UAE. In line with the Ministry of Tourism -Egypt and the Egyptian Tourist Authority’s (ETA) efforts to enhance tourism in Egypt, the ETA will be participating in the Arabian Travel Market (ATM) that will take place on April 30 until May 3, 2012 in; and will be occupying stand no. NA510.H.E.

Mounir Fakhry Abd ElNour, Minister of Tourism of Egypt, announced during a press conference preceding the event that the Ministry aims to raise the rates of tourism in Egypt to the levels witnessed in 2010.

The Minister reviewed the Ministry’s strategy in Arabian markets during the coming period, which looks towards highlighting Egypt's pioneering and solid position as a key driver of the most important historical, cultural and artistic events in the region, and as one of the favorite destinations for tourists from around the world.

The Ministry’s strategy provides ongoing support to its partners in the trade sector through joint advertising and marketing campaigns, organizing FAM trips by inviting tour operators & travel agents to visit the touristic destinations in Egypt and introduce them to various products offered by Egypt for Arab tourists.

Moreover, the Ministry of Tourism’s strategy focuses on Egypt's willingness to receive tourists throughout the year and to work on organizing various artistic and cultural events and festivals. The strategy also emphasizes the importance of strengthening the Ministry and ETA’s presence and participation in the most important tourism fairs in Arab countries in addition to increasing press trips to Egypt by inviting representatives of the most important Arab media outlets to shed light on Egypt as a tourist destination.

Abd ElNour said: "During the coming months, the Ministry of Tourism of Egypt seeks through their strategic plans to bring back tourism rates to their previous levels witnessed in 2010. We will focus our efforts on various global markets, particularly the Arab ones, where the rate of Arab tourists during the first three months of this year has witnessed a growth of about 62.9% compared with the overall rate of increase in visitors during the first quarter, which only amounted to 32%."

The Minister pointed out that the Ministry's participation in the ATM this year illustrates the unique relationship that brings the UAE and Egypt together, which is reflected through the increase of number Emirati tourists to Egypt by 80% in March 2012 compared with March 2011. Abd El Nour also emphasized his intentions to conduct several meetings with Arab and International tourism agencies that are participating in the ATM and are dealing with the Egyptian market.

"Through its strategy, the Ministry communicated with travel agencies and hotel establishments to urge them to provide more offers and programs specifically designed for Arab tourists. These should tailored for destinations located on the shores of the Red Sea such as Sharm El Sheikh, Hurghada and Marsa Alam, in addition to Cairo, Alexandria and the North Coast; and for the duration of the next summer season, Ramadan and Eid Al Fitr. During the next few days, the fruits of these communication and cooperation efforts with travel agencies will present themselves through the competitive prices to be offered in the international travel and tourism market compared with different countries around the globe. Additionally, this cooperation will result in an increase in the diversity of tourism products offered by Egypt to meet the needs of all Arab tourists segments which suit their different tastes, " Abd El Nour added.

The Moinister also shed light on the significant improvement made within the Egyptian tourism industry, particularly with regards to security and stability despite some individual events, where the Egyptian tourism sector managed to reduce negative impacts resulting from recent political events, and was able to achieve continuous growth month after month. H.E. also explained that the success achieved is due to the solid and sturdy foundations of the Egyptian tourism sector, and to Egypt’s pioneering role as one of the most important tourist destinations in the region and around the world.

He continued: "I expect the tourism flow to return to the tourism levels Egypt recorded in 2010." H.E. also praised the significant and positive role of the Arab and international media in transferring Egypt’s situation, where you cannot limit the Egyptian tourism reality to events taking place in Tahrir Square. In addition, the Minister called all media outlets to communicate with the Ministry to elicit accurate information regarding tourism activity in different parts of Egypt.

Records show that the number of Arab tourists who visited Egypt during the three months of this year is 483,834 tourists in 2012 compared to 296,980 tourists during the same period in 2011, which shows an increase of about 62.9%.

Furthermore, the number of nights Arab tourists spent in Egypt is about 7.4 million nights, compared to approximately 4 million nights in the first quarter of 2011, which again shows an increase 84.4%.

In addition, the number of Emirati tourists during the first quarter of 2012 is 4,883 in oppose to 4,232 tourists in the same period of 2011, an increase of 15.4%. While the number of nights Emirati tourists spent at Egypt is approximately 61,000 nights compared to 57,000 nights of the first quarter of 2011, an increase of 6.4%.

In addition, the number of Saudi tourists who visited Egypt during the first quarter of this year is 46,734 tourists compared to 32,718 tourists during the same period in 2011, which shows an increase of about 42.8%. Furthermore, the number of nights Saudi tourists spent in Egypt is about 806,000 nights, compared to approximately 460,000 nights in the first quarter of 2011, which again shows an increase of 75%.

While the number of Kuwaiti tourists who visited Egypt during the first quarter of this year is 17,256 tourists compared to 14,251 tourists during the same period in 2011, which shows an increase of about 21.1%. Furthermore, the number of nights Kuwaiti tourists spent in Egypt is about 369,000 nights, compared to approximately 270,000 nights in the first quarter of 2011, which again shows an increase of 36.4%.

The Egyptian Tourist AuthorityEgyptian Tourist Authority was established in March 1981, by presidential decree No. 134 endorsing a recommendation by the Minister of Tourism. The Authority is dedicated to promoting Egypt as a first class tourist destination, in line with the rise of tourism marketing as an independent discipline and the emergence of new tourism promotion tools.

The Authority responded to the increasing competition in the travel and tourism industry, by adopting an advanced structure capable of dynamically dealing with the situation. The completion is due to the rising number of new attractive destinations, budget airlines and the huge progress made by the airlines industry.

MIDDLE EAST BUSINESS COMMENT & ANALYSIS

INTERNATIONAL. Washington is moving away from the strategy it has followed since the early 2000s - of being the prime military force in regional conflicts - and is shifting the primary burden of fighting to regional powers while playing a secondary role.

INTERNATIONAL. Washington is moving away from the strategy it has followed since the early 2000s - of being the prime military force in regional conflicts - and is shifting the primary burden of fighting to regional powers while playing a secondary role.